Darlington II: Jimmie Johnson qualifying press conference

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: Qualified 2nd:
TAKE US THROUGH YOUR LAP.
"This is a great effort for the Lowe's team. This
has been a track that I've always raced well at and qualified well at, going
back to the Busch...

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: Qualified 2nd:

TAKE US THROUGH YOUR LAP.

"This is a great effort for the Lowe's team. This
has been a track that I've always raced well at and qualified well at, going
back to the Busch Series and coming here in the Winston Cup Series. I'm very
excited about today and everything we did. I was so close to Ryan. I left a
little on the table in Turn 4 getting back in the gas. I didn't realize it
until after I had gotten into the gas. I thought, 'man, there was just a
little bit there.' It ended up being that all I needed was just a little
bit. Everybody can go through and say that on their laps. I'm very happy.
Track position is very important here and we're doing the right things by
starting second."

YOU HEAR THE OLD VETERANS TELLING THESE WAR STORIES. DO YOU YOUNGER DRIVERS
APPRECIATE OF WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH?

"I think there's a mixed bag on that.
There are a lot of things that went on when I was up to six years old that
there's no way I can appreciate or remember. I know the names, know who they
are and respect what they've done, but some of that is before my time. To
hear the stories, that's amazing stuff. In the future, with where Winston
Cup racing is going, the names and drivers that are here, the stories will
be relative down the road. That's why our sport is as strong as it is,
because it doesn't matter if it was 25 years ago or today. Look at what
happened with Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven here earlier this year. You're
going to have great racing."

DO YOU THINK TRADITION MEANS THAT MUCH OR IS IT JUST ANOTHER RACE?

"From my
perspective, Labor Day and all these other holidays we have, I've kind of
forgotten about in general, with the schedule that we have. Not being here
and not racing on Monday as they did in the past. Being a part of the
Southern 500 as the veterans have, it doesn't have the same thing to the
younger guys that are coming into the sport. We just haven't had the chance
to be around it and to be a part of it. It's not that we don't respect it,
it's just we've not been around it enough to form that respect. I do respect
everything about this track and the minute you let your guard down, it's
going to eat you up. That's what we all know about the place."

YOU AND RYAN HAVE BEEN FREQUENT RIVALS THROUGH YOUR ROOKIE YEAR AND PRETTY
GOOD FRIENDS NOW. IS THERE A RIVALRY?

"I think there's a rivalry between all
of us out there. I think it's neat when you have different guys that you get
along with, you can hang out with and race side-by-side with and have a good
time racing and being competitive and having that rivalry. Ryan and I have a
little more defined rivalry due to the fact that we both ran for Raybestos
Rookie of the Year last year. It's a little more defined in that respect. He
's tough and is going to be tough for a long time. We're very close in age
and we're going to be a thorn in each other's side for a long time."

ARE THE PATCHES IN THE CORNERS ROUGH?

"It's pretty similar. Jeff [Gordon]
went out and made a race run and he said that where the patches were, there
was grip to be found there. You'll slide into the corner with a certain
handle on the car and knowing where you're going to end up. Then you drive
across this patch that has a bunch of grip and it grabs the car and turns it
away from the wall. He said that it was a handful, real loose. You have the
car set up, and your line and your rhythm set up for one thing and then you
hit the patch, get a lot of grip and it's upsetting the car a lot."

LABOR DAY WEEKEND NEXT YEAR WILL BE AT A TRACK NEAR YOUR HOME. WHAT DO YOU
THINK ABOUT THAT?

"I haven't really thought about that, to be honest with
you. The way the schedule goes and what goes on and holidays that come and
go, I really don't pay any attention to it. It's just another race weekend
and I'm going to have to be on a long flight to the West Coast just like
everybody else."

HOW SLICK IS IT?

"You're driving at the edge of traction the whole time, and
we could be doing that at 100 miles per hour or 190. It's a challenge to us.
We have our hands full inside the car. Being on this track versus another
track, it is more work here because the tires fall off so much. The thing
that carries over is the consistency and how long the car stays fast. You
feel like you're going 300 miles per hour and you're really running half the
speed you were at the beginning."